Nina Turner weighs in on reimagining US law enforcement and the ‘Defund the Police’ movement

Nina Turner, former national campaign co-chair for Sen. Bernie Sander’s (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, on Thursday broke down the meaning of the “Defund the Police” movement that has come from the outrage over the police killing of George Floyd.

Turner, a former Ohio state congresswoman, told Hill.TV that the connotation of the word “defund” has caused congressional leaders from both parties to push back against the idea.

“We are programmed in this country to believe that the way policing exists today is the way that it has to be, it’s a fear-mongering kind of mentality,” Turner explained.

She added: “The history of the police has not been one of ‘protect and serve,'” Turner said, referring to history of law enforcement in black and low-income communities in the U.S.

“It has been one of ‘occupy,’ it’s been one of that says ‘they are bad, they are evil, they’re poor, we must be there at all times.'”

Turner also pushed back against former Vice President Joe Biden’s proposal of increasing community policing funds by $300 million, claiming that more funding won’t change the systemic problem of white police officers killing members of the black community.

“Law enforcement is a microcosm of the United States of America, so this moment cannot just be about the police or law enforcement agencies,” Turner said. “This moment is about how we erase systemic racism, tear down those systems and reimagine another way of doing business. That really is what defund the police is all about.”

Sanders exited the 2020 race earlier this year, leaving Biden as the last Democrat and the presumptive nominee to face President Trump in the November general election.